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Interview with Michel Lollichon, associate director of DistriSoft

Michel Lollichon, Directeur associť - DistriSoft

Michel Lollichon is Software engineer with trainer diploma from University of Ottawa (Canada). Software developer and trainer on computer languages and software since 1985, Michel joined DISTRISOFT in 2011 as associate director and CTO. He operates from Lyon and is responsible for the Pedagogical Engineering Division of DISTRISOFT, eLearnTeam.

bsoco : Could you please briefly introduce your company?

Michel Lollichon : Created in 2001 by Jean-Claude Michel, DISTRISOFT is a company that has contributed to several successful software companies in France. The encounter with Articulate in May 2004 was the starting point of a fruitful collaboration and guidance in the field of e-Learning - DISTRISOFT is now ranked internationally as their third distributor. Since then, with the creation of its engineering division, eLearnTeam, by Michel Lollichon Associate Director, DISTRISOFT has developed a range of services and training to support its customers and users in their projects. DISTRISOFT is one of the five global partners certified for its training by Yukon learning, the strategic training partner of Articulate.

bsoco : Now a lot-of small companies want to launch their e-learning projects, but is-it really accessible for them ?

Michel Lollichon : Itís not a matter of company size as e-learning tools are easier to approach. Most of individuals, if they are already familiar with computers, will master a tool like storyline with a few days of training. The problem for these type of companies would lie first to dedicate time and staff to develop training modules. The other pitfall and often the real reason, which is not only the preserve of small businesses, is rather ignorance of the script and therefore pedagogy in general. This is often where people experience issues. That is why we have developed a training in this sense, which enables learners to know how to script training and adopt a methodology for e-learning.

bsoco : Your best-seller is Storyline, do you think that the use of authoring tools will increase in the futures years ?

Michel Lollichon : The use of such tools will obviously increase. For several reasons, notably the ease with which it is now possible to develop rich media modules with a solution like storyline. On the other hand the spread of online training, the use of mobile devices to learn or find information undoubtedly contribute to the development of digital learning techniques.

bsoco : What development methodologies do you use ?

Michel Lollichon : Our project team consists of project managers who have deployed significant IT solutions for companies in various fields of activity. In general rule these experiences give us a good understanding of eLearning projects on digital technologies. Each project is estimated according to its level of complexity and from an internal specific scale. The main phases of development are: validation of the specification, design storyboard, prototyping, development and delivery. Our teaching method is based on acquisition of skills, achievement and not the sanction of the review.

bsoco : Some new competitors arrive on the e-learning market and say that the e-learning is an old school approach and now itís the MOOC, what do you think about that ?

Michel Lollichon : This is another approach where, with the MOOC, the trainer seems more present in the training system. In a MOOC rather than invest in script and graphics, it will favor short formats that operate on the Web. Some will adopt this mode of education, others prefer e-learning, with elaborated scripts and advanced graphics. Now, the training purpose is acquisition of knowledge and its application. One and the other of these techniques can fulfill this mission, this is what matters but, from my point of view, the technique adopted is second order, the teaching abilities of the teacher / designer remain primordial. A good teacher is quite rare, when on the other hand the number of theories on teaching subject does not miss. This is at this level that would have to question what is inefficient and does not produce results.